American Express, the Credit card giant has joined and become a constituent member of the Linux-Foundation led open-source crossindustry blockchain working-group, the Hyperledger Project. This is yet another example of a traditional financial-services industry turning to a Fintech the poster-child in blockchain technology. The company has joined this Hyperledger-Project as a Premier member, paying an annual membership fee of $250, 000. They will be a direct contributor in the creation and development of the open-source enterprise blockchains.

In a statement released shortly after the major development, the company Information Chief & VP, Marc Gordon said that they hope to usher in new & innovative products while at the same time steering the transformation of already business processes as well as applications. They are also expecting their global reputation to assist in the advancement of open-source blockchain ecosystem.

The other notable members of this premier club providing the code to this project are the technology giant, IBM and two New York-based blockchain start-ups Digital Asset & R3. The name – Hyplerledger, was previously under the ownership of Digital Asset up until its donation to Linux Foundation.

Payment-Card Giants Tapping Blockchain-Tech

A Blockchain is a digital ledger in which all the transactions made in bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies are recorded chronologically and publicly. American Express intends to work with the Bitcoin.

American Express ranks the third for global credit-card transaction volumes, lead only by Visa and MasterCard. The payments chief executive, Ken Chenault had noted as early as 2014 that Bitcoin, like any other mode of payment, is a competitor. In late 2015, AE invested in Abra – a bitcoin start-up.

Meanwhile, in December 2015, Visa recognized blockchain technology as a means of payment. It said that blockchain is relevant and set up a huge lab for blockchain development in India. Visa has announced an intention to use a blockchain-based interbank payments network between European banks.

The world’s largest payments-network has also launched the Visa Business to Business (B2B). This is a blockchain-based initiative developed in conjunction with an industry firm named Chain Inc. This instrument will challenge the age-old traditional S.W.I.F.T messaging network owing to a large volume crossborder transfers. Also included in this grand development is MasterCard that unveiled unveiled its set of blockchain application program interfaces (API) in late 2016 and after the company’sOperations Chief revealed an ongoing interest in the innovation.